Gas filler neck Q, don't blow me off

[roccit_53 at hotmail.com (C Boyko)]

Okay. My 16V is drizzling gas around the bottom of the filler neck clamp. It 
was suggested (and rightly so) that it is most likely the rubber hose that's 
at fault, since this area is full of fuel and is an unlikely corrosion 
candidate. SO off I go to find the rubber hose, which nobody on God's green 
earth seems to have, so I order it from VW at $50 I might add. Needless to 
say when I was IN Hagersville the dealer couldn't find where they had put 
it, so off I go for a special trip to get it this morning, and ...

Yep, a full four inches too short.

1. Could somebody crawl under their 16V and tell me how long the hose is on 
theirs to see if it's 7" or more like 10-11"?

2. How close to the tank should this join in? I'm wondering if part of one 
of the metal hoses that the rubber goes onto has been deleted, and if so, is 
it the tank or filler end neck that's short. The gap between the metal parts 
is well in excess of the 7" that I have hose for. Or is this identical to 
the Mk1s, in which case I can check for myself.

3. How much trouble am I asking for if I cut the hose in half and add in a 
4-5" length of exhaust pipe? It shouldn't leak, right?


Anyway, I can't think of any other way to fix it, suggestions are more than 
welcome. Matches are not an option, but tempting. Why the hell doesn't 
anything go normally on this car? (I'm honestly afraid of what I'll find 
when I do pull that hose off, but I guess I gotta bite the bullet eh?)
Cathy

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